Take Me Away
by Rinna Zeki-Xiphos
Summary: My numb heart suddenly came to life, melted at just his prescence. A performance I hadn't expected to even enjoy had turned into something beyond my wildest dreams. I stood there in shock, heart racing. Alive...he was alive.


            A thousand feelings rushed through my mind.  Words I'd never in my wildest fantasies dreamed of hearing were suddenly ringing in my ears, and my heart was racing so fast I was sure that any moment I'd pass out.

"My beloved Dagger, come to me!"

            I hadn't really been looking forward to the performance of 'I Want To Be Your Canary'.  Though the memories associated with it were pleasant ones, it was sometimes just hard to even think of them…think of him… Yet I'd gone anyway, mainly because I was the Queen of Alexandria and it wouldn't look good for me not to show up for a performance that Tantalus had arranged just for me.

            And yet…that line.  It was the climax of the entire play…Everything built up to that line.  Marcus's call to his love…

            Or in this case, Zidane's call to me…Impossible…We'd thought him dead ever since the incident at the Iifa tree…It was amazing how clearly I could see him from my seat so far away from everybody….

_I have waited all my life to know you, all about you_

_And now, I'm staring in your eyes, ocean blue…_

_I'm all about you._

This was impossible!  Zidane…I'd thought he was dead…for so long….

            Which wasn't to say I hadn't spent my lonely nights dreaming that he was still alive…

_And in our minds it comes so easily…_

My numb heart suddenly sprung to life, the cold misery I'd tried to unsuccessfully break through melting at just his presence.  Alive!  He was alive!  I stood there in shock, heart racing.  I could feel Beatrix and Steiner staring at me from their posts.  I'm sure they weren't the only ones.

_But there's a feeling coming over me_

_I wanna show you but there's nowhere we can really be free_

_Everybody's watching…_

_Wouldn't it be good if we could be together?_

            I scolded myself for thinking so irrationally.  I was the queen now.  Zidane and I?  Nobody understood how I felt about him, nor would they accept it, or even care to consider accepting it.

            Pah.  Nobody understood why I ran away from Alexandria the first time either.  I stood up and ran towards the door.  Steiner and Beatrix stepped in front of my only escape to Zidane.

            Surely…surely they couldn't…they knew what had happened between Zidane and I…were they really going to…surely…

"Go ahead, Dagger," Steiner pushed the door open for me.

            Dagger…that was the first time he'd called me by that name without any resentment in his voice.   But there was no time to ponder that now.  I raced past him, out the door, and down the stairs.  The fresh spring air of Alexandria rushed up to greet me.  Zidane…I'm coming….

            I tripped amongst the crowd, cursing the dress and shoes that made it impossible for me to run correctly.  I tried to catch myself, but ended up falling to the ground.  The delicate chain that held the royal pendant broke, and the pendant bounced into the crowd.  I went to go after it, then paused.

            Really, though, there was more of a decision here than just 'Pendant first, Zidane later' or 'Zidane first, pendant later'.  It was more a question of 'Life as Queen Garnet til Alexandros' or 'Life as Dagger with Zidane'.

            I watch the pendant bounce off, and I was lost for a moment, unsure of what path to take.  I needed to be queen, but no sooner had I thought that then did my mind flood with memories, almost as if the wiser side of me was begging me to change my mind.  I closed my eyes for a moment, letting them wash over me like the cool breeze.

            A bandit from Tantalus trying to kidnap a girl who actually wanted to leave the castle…it had to be destiny that she ran into him on the way out…

"Please, kidnap me!" she'd pleaded with him a bit after their very first encounter.

            The boy had been surprised, but didn't have any problem obliging to her wishes.

"I hereby promise to do my very best to kidnap you, Princess Garnet!"

_Take me away_

_Take me far away from here_

_I will run with you_

They'd reached the village of Dali and were escaping by means of airship.  So much had happened in just that short amount of time…the young princess had learned things she didn't wish to know…she tried not to ponder about them as she stood at the wheel of the airship.  She had to focus on the task at hand right now.  She'd come to learn that Zidane could be quite annoying at this point….yet there was something in him she admired.  He'd protected her, saved her in the forest…

"You got control of this?" Zidane poked his head in the cockpit of the airship, grinning at her.  "We're heading to South Gate, don't forget!"

            She nodded, squinting to see through the sun and across the horizon.

_Don't be afraid_

_You navigate and I will steer_

_Into the sun we will run_

            And hadn't that same princess been thinking about life outside the castle ever since she was a little girl?  Sitting in her room and staring out the open window, thinking about the strange dreams…how she wished she could understood that odd, reoccurring dream…and Zidane…Zidane had helped her learn.

_I try to remember when I was just a child_

_In my room, my imagination used to run wild_

_But I never knew_

_That nothing's ever as it seems to be_

_When a dream collides with the reality_

            I looked at the pendant.  Why was this decision so hard?!  The crowd began to murmur, wondering what I was doing.

_It should be easy when two people love each other truly_

_Everybody's talking_

_And wouldn't it be good if they could understand us?_

            I could feel the eyes of the crowd staring at me now.  Suddenly I felt angry…angry at the stupid crowd for not understanding, and angry at myself for being so silly and not seeing the obvious solution in the beginning.

_Wouldn't it be good if they could understand us?!_

_Wouldn't it be good if we could be together?!_

            I took a deep breath.  I had to get there before I lost the chance…  All decisions made, I started running towards…

_Take me away!_

Zidane.  He stood there patiently, grinning his same old smile.  I practically threw myself at him, trying to hug him and beat the living daylights out of him all at once.

"What, didja miss me or something?" he grinned.

"You had me worried!  I thought you were dead!"  I found myself crying and laughing all at the same time.  Funny how one's emotions can be.  Nothing made sense…but this was perfect, perfect, perfect!

"Can I make it up to you?" he looked at me, still smiling.  Oh, for the love of all things on Gaia, how I loved his smile…

            I nodded in answer to his question, wrapping my arms tightly around him and whispering three words in his ear.

"Take me away."

_Take me away _

_Take me far away from here_

_Whoa…oh…_

_I will run with you wherever you go_

_Don't be afraid_

_Let's run away_

_Navigate and I will steer_

_Into the sun_

_We will run._

~//~

A/N and Disclaimer:

    I don't own Final Fantasy IX, but Squenix formerly Squaresoft does.  I do have a copy of the game though!  ^-^  I also don't own 'Take Me Away'.  It's by Fefe Dobson.  Yay for her.

     If a bit of this is inaccurate then I'm sorry.  It's been forever since I've played FFIX but I heard this song on the radio last night as I was scanning through the stations and decided I had to do something with it.  I'm also not sure how good this is…I don't really like Zidane that much *dodges Grand Lethals* and I don't really read a lot of FFIX fanfics…this is the first one I've written too.  (FFIX fanfic, not regular fanfic ^^)  Well, hope that was okay…you can tell me how horrible or whatever it was.  Love and peace, ~Xifa~  


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